Thoughts on Link Courses

Here are my thoughts on the following questions:

1.
Have the linked courses been beneficial to you and if so how? If not, why not?
Attending the linked courses for Digital Storytelling and Popular Culture could not have been a better ending to my graduate studies. The ability to tackle a topic such as Popular Culture in Education, for which I had very little background, and construct products that were useful to facilitation in the classroom or online was amazing. The modeling that took place in class allowed me to construct a learning strategy that met my needs as instructor with a greater sense of ease. Furthermore, the synergy between the topic and developing the tool, a digital story, provided structure to both courses. My story was created through my engagement with new technology. The final draft of my narrative drove the types of technologies I selected. At the end of the linked courses, all objectives were met and I am able to walk away with a deeper understanding of both topics, much deeper than if I had taken them separately.

2.
Have the digital photo/storytelling assignments been worthwhile in helping you learn the technology skills presented?
The digital storytelling assignments have been very useful in helping me better use the technologies. Since create a movie or script was new to me, the out-of-class assignments were important to tackling the concepts, technologies and processes. At first the blogging was a little overwhelming. I had blogging for three classes and my internship. However, the blogging ended up being a great way to structure my thoughts on the experiences, tools and products.

3.
Have the digital photo/storytelling assignments been worthwhile in helping you learn the popular culture content?
My honest answer is that blogging for the popular culture assignments was my biggest challenge in the course. Coming from an adult learning, technologist, instructional designer, consulting background, my comfort level was again and again tested with placing myself in the shoes of a K-12 teacher. However, as the semester progressed so did my comfort level with the subject matter and how to extend learning for students.

4.
Do you think that the linked course pairing helped you connect technical skills to content area knowledge? If so, how and if not, what do you think did not work?
See Question #1. I think the pairing was wonderful. As IT professionals, it is important to develop new ways of using technology to creatively facilitate learning. The educational subject matter has an influence on what decisions we make in development. Having CUIN students work through this process is essential to gaining a better understanding and assimilation.

5.
Would you be interested in taking other linked courses if they were offered and would you recommend this pair of linked courses to other students?
Yes and yes. I am very interested in taking these types of courses as a doctoral student.

6.
Is there anything else you can suggest that you feel would improve the digital photography/storytelling half of the linked course pair?
My suggestions for the digital storytelling part of the course are;

1. I would have liked to have seen more practice around the storytelling part of the process. When I was developing my script I got hung up on developing a popular culture learning product. Therefore I went straight for facts and dates. However, upon working with the mid-term assignment, I realized that the script could contain those things, but needed to be framed. This could be due to the fact that my technology comfort level was much, much higher than my script writing. My thought would be to provide a script in the first class which would allow students more time to understand how the images fit into the story, i.e. Here is an article on the 80's. Collect images that help tell the story. Then work with Picasa3 to collage the images in class. Then having students construct smaller scripts while practicing collecting photos, add audio, etc. - Like we did for the first attempt of a digital story...but require a script. Followed by the mid-term, where you add audio and photos to practice those technical skills.

2. At first, I didn't agree with assigning popular culture topics to students and having them create a digital story about the topic. Dr. Robin had pointed out that the story should come from a point of passion. My topic, Journalism in Popular Culture, was sad to say very alien to me as subject matter for teaching much less for creating a knowledgeable story. In the end though, I think it was a great idea. It forced me to overcome my fear of constructing materials around an unknown topic. As educators that concept is very important.

7.
One option under consideration is to have a linked pair of courses where the content area course would be offered as a traditional 3 hour per week face-to-face course and the digital photo/storytelling course would be offered online, or mostly online. Please discuss your reaction to this idea and provide any questions or comments you have on this topic.
See my previous post on this topic. I think the hybrid option would be very appropriate. A complete online digital storytelling course doesn't seem as attractive to me. First, because I think the face-to-face interaction with Dr. Robin, Anne and Hal was so important. The ability to discuss problems and ideas in person was much needed. Second, the flow from popular culture into digital storytelling on some nights allowed me to take information from one directly into another for practice. Finally, I thought the interactions between students, Cam and Dr. Robin was something that all students should be able to experience...and no I'm not just sucking up. ;-)

8.
Do you have any other comments that you would like to add?
Just thank you to Dr. Robin and Cam for allowing me to be a part of such an amazing experience. I have learned so much this semester about my role as a technologist and an educator. And thank you to Anne and Hal for such great support. The Story Circle activity was so practical and useful. As well, the software suggestions were very cool indeed.

A Review of The Expansion of Digital Storytelling into Content Area Instruction

This morning I got up bright and early to review The Expansion of Digital Storytelling into Content Area Instruction. On a personal note it was interesting to review the methodology and strategy from which our own experience sprung. I was also sad to see that my smiley face family digital story didn't make the paper, but I have begun the healing process already. In any case, the proposal is very interesting and contains many great ideas.

As an instructional designer, educator, consultant - whatever it is this week - let me start with the technical review of the content:

1. In the section Evolution of Popular Culture & Digital Storytelling, last sentence - "Thus, his...” should be "Thus, this..."
2. In the section Using Picasa3 to Organize and Edit Digital Images, first sentence - "Since so many useful resources ARE EXIST..." I believe it is "useful resources exist..."
3. The link is broken for Children's Literature Student Collages
4. In the section Online Photo Editors, I don't know if it was done for effect or not but there are four uses of "many", three of which refer to "many students"
5. In the section Still Images to Full-Motion Video, fourth sentence - "Consequently, we now INCLUDES..." should be "Consequently, we now include..."

Turning to my thoughts on the content alone. My two suggestions would be:

1. I found the collaborative discussions throughout the semester of great importance as a technologist. Having used Mac to create my digital story, discoveries such as Celtx, as well as the shortcuts provided in class helped considerably in my development of not only the product but as a storyteller. Delving into questions that came up regarding alternative software, hardware or procedures provided additional insight into not only other options but also new technologies. Since the decline in students in the program might be attributed to accessibility to technology and the subsequent familiarity, this fact might be important to discuss.
2. Dr. Robin mentioned the possibility of making the linked courses a hybrid model. In my opinion, this is a wonderful idea. One of the key things I have experience from previous IT courses is that whether the content is presented in a hybrid approach or completely online, the online component models how the student's own products will be viewed from that perspective. With this approach the student can work at their own pace to understand the technology or concepts. This would alleviate the differences I saw this semester in skill level between students. I know for myself, my technology skills were there but my background in social studies education, storytelling, and script writing lagged. While other students excelled at my weaknesses, they found the technologies more difficult to navigate. Nonetheless, the face-to-face support in Dr. Robin's class ("And did I mention it is free.."), as well as the facilitation activity in Cam's class were critical components to my own synthesis of material within the linked courses model.

Hopefully these comments are useful.

Burning a DVD

I used iDVD on my Macbook Air with an attachable DVD burner (Mac) to complete this assignment. iDVD allows you to burn the movies to a dvd, create a menu using various themes and even add music to the Menu page. You can also add chapter pages as well.

The program is good but a little buggy. I tried to add a PowerPoint to the disk and it froze instead of telling me that I couldn't do it. Additionally, I had trouble understanding the button creation. I'm going to explore this further.

Steps I took:

1. Opened iDVD.
2. Saved project as Guthrie Digital Story - 2008
3. I chose a theme - Stretch Man.
4. I selected project tree.
5. I dragged each movie into the tree. (imports movies into project)
6. Select Return
7. I selected drop zones. (imports stills into interactive menu)
8. I selected buttons to show on the menu.
9. I selected Media.
10. I dragged music from iTunes into my menu.
11. I clicked on Burn to Dvd.

All-in-all it's a pretty easier software just a little buggy.

Software Used for My Digital Story

Creating my digital story on Bias or Propaganda in Journalism required several software/web programs:

1. iMovie - digital story creation
2. Audacity - audio editing/manipulation
3. GraphicConverter - converting .gif to .jpg
4. Preview - cropping photos
5. MediaConverter - YouTube to .mov file
6. iTunes - music screening
7. Celtx - storyboard
8. MSWord - script

My digital story can be seen at http://www.steveguthrie.net/6137/dg2.html

My Engines Of Our Ingenuity Episode - 1448 Guillotine

This is the final draft of my Engines of Our Ingenuity Episode 1448 - Guillotine.

It was fun to do, but a lot of work...and that was with the script already recorded.

Enjoy....

Using Audacity to create and edit audio files

This is an mp3 file that I created using Audacity (audio editor), Jamendo (royalty free music - Life's Path by Mindthings), and BooMP3 (free audio hosting). I'm "OK" with the final product. My frustration is mostly focused on the microphone at this point. I'm sure with more practice though that it will get better.

Couple of notes:

1. The beginning has a fade in, and the ending has a fade out.
2. Though it may sound like I've smoked a pack of cigarettes (I don't smoke), it's only the sound of me fighting allergies.

Here is the linked file on BooMP3 - Boomp3.com

Writing Circle Activity

Last Wednesday I and two other people from my group (Coretta and Hannah) participated in a writing circle activity as part of Dr. Robin's Digital Storytelling class. The exercise was insightful, fun and useful.

The group was given 15 minutes to write a story about a moment in time when they were forced (had) to make a decision that would change their life. I spoke of the time I chose to move to Austin for a job that would change the course of my career. Hannah chose to write about her decision to go to U of H and how it has changed her life and career. And Coretta wrote of her journey to self fulfillment and a career doing something she loves. By the end of the exercise, having discussed each participant's story with the assigned group, we had found common themes, discuss a little of how to make the story better (though probably not as much as we should have) and in my opinion gotten to know each other a little bit better and enjoyed ourselves in the process.

The exercise itself showed us how easy it was to pour out at least a rough draft of a story. We all agreed that it was easier to write about something we knew, as well as something near to our hearts and experience. Dr. Robin checked in on us and we discussed the difference between the exercise topic and working on our final project. I came away with a better understanding of what lies ahead in creating the text for my final project and hopefully understanding the creative process a little better.

Finally, the writing circle was without a doubt something that anyone working on a story could use. In practice, as an educator, I could see using this at the beginning of the digital storytelling course as an icebreaker amongst students. The student is not expected to spill their heart out about a sensitive topic, but to speak about something that brings pride to them. Another possibility would be to use the writing circle at the beginning of every class to - maybe a five minute exercise - to allow the students a creative moment to either build on lessons learned from the last class or areas of their final story where they would like feedback. Actually there are so many options for when and how to use this type of exercise.

Mid Term Project - Guillotine

After listening to several of the Engines episodes, I have finally selected my mid term project topic - No. 1448: GUILLOTIN/GUILLOTINE. The story is perfect for the Halloween time and the narration seems to provide room for interesting images and historical reference.

Start of the Final Project

This "digital story" is the start of my final project. Included within the video are images that I think may be useful to my project on Propaganda in the News. I've also included two different songs. I will work more at collecting more images and editing the music within the coming weeks.

The recorded audio - narration - is better in this attempt. I purchased a USB mic and for more than the lowest price thinking it would mean better quality but I'm not sold. I'm going to play with it more and see if it has to do with settings, OS, etc.

The Godfather - with music and narration

This is a revamped version of The Godfather with both music and narration. It's cheesier than a Philly Cheesesteak but it was what I had to do for my country, my family...and my class. Or something like that.
The narration was very difficult. I can see where storyboarding comes in handy because it is hard to think about what you want or need to say without having scripted it. Additionally, the intermingling of narration to music. I didn't play around too much with the music other than volume because I'm not really sure what would go well other than what I have throughout the digital story.
Enjoy - it's sugary sweet so maybe drink coffee or a beer with it (if you're of legal age).

The Godfather

This is my first attempt at making a digital story and publishing it to my own blog.

My First Digital Story

Here is the link digital story -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbXS0bcgssQ

Couple of things I ran into -

1. It was almost easier just to upload my movie to YouTube vs. doing it in Picasa3. It's only my opinion but even with a Google account I had to link it to YouTube (where I didn't have an account) before I could move forward plus I had the added step of pulling the material into Picasa3. I do see the benefit though in having all of your work in one place and that is one of the many things that Picasa3 is great at providing.

2. I ran into the fact that I had to get consent. Something I hadn't really thought about. After completing the piece I realized that I needed to ask for permission for two reasons a) a child is involved and that might pose a risk, and b) the subject is an "alternative" family, who might not necessarily be comfortable with having their story in cyberspace.

So I've covered all bases. It moves rather fast because it's a little long and I wanted to cut the viewing time for the sake of class.

Thanks.

Steve

Editing Photos Using a Web-Based Application

The photos on the right are a before (left) and after (right) of a photo I took while at the Guggenheim in NYC earlier this year and after I edited it using Picutre2Life. Picture2Life is a free, web-based photo-editing tool that provides editing, collaging and automation (Slide Show) features to account and non-account users. The following adjustments were made to the picture on the left to result in the image on the right:

1. Crop
2. Paint Effect
3. Sharpen Effect
4. Saturation Effect
5. Save to Desktop

Below is an evalutation of Picture2Life that I completed using guiding questions provided by Dr. Robin:

1. What is the name and web address of the program you are evaluating?
• Picture2Life
• http://www.picture2life.com/

2. Which editing features did you use?
• Quick Fixes
- Shadow
- Sketch
- Oil Paint
- Kuwahara
- Edge (SharkTooth)
- Edge (Rugged)
• One Clicks
- Water
- Swirl
- Color
- Texture
• All
- Border
- Brightness
- Crop
- Hue
- Save
• Collage
- Picture Pile
- Grids
• Animation
- Customize

3. Did the program perform as expected?

The program actually exceeded my expectations.

Overall Picture2Life is very simple and intuitive to use. I was able to easily navigate through the various effects and liked the fact that you could apply and then remove the effects simply by clicking the back button or remove.

Another great aspect of the program is that you are able to see the individual effect before choosing it for your photo. Each effect is previewed in the effect menu. So I didn’t have to guess what the effect would look like.The program allows you to select and save favorite effects, customize effects (by layering them) and save them for your next editing project. This functionality requires a user account.

The Collage feature was very nice. It has 27 different variations users can apply to a grouping of photos that they select out of their uploaded gallery.

The Automation tool (or as Slide Show in most programs) is simple but useful. Users can decide how many times and the size of photos as they loop.

4. Was the program easy to use?

Very easy.

Obviously the robustness of a program like Photoshop is not present but everything a person would need for regular photo editing is made available. A couple of things that were missing were Autofix and Red Eye reduction.

5. Did you experience any problems using the program?

When looking for the Autofix I found Sharpen and used this feature. Then backed the change out. When I tried to use it again over another layer, it wouldn’t work. I wasn't able to recreate the problem.

6. Would you use this program again and/or would you recommend this pr program to others?

Definitely. Free, easy to use, with a lot of editing features as well as the ability to collage and animate – why not?

7. Do you have any other comments you think would be helpful?

The program doesn’t require an account – but it is useful if you are going to want to set up favorites or customized effects.

The site allows you to save your edited photo to its server or to sites such as flickr, Facebook or 23. As well you can download the edited photo.

Picture2Life allows users to customize colors and textures as well as add text to photos.

Week 2 - Lighting, depth and fill

Here are six more photos out of the 164 I took.

The top left Starbucks photo was taken in the morning, while the next photo was taken inside with a flash. The Starbucks cup was shot with a flash and shows more of the shadowing I spoke of in my previous blog.

The bottom two photos of the fabric weight I liked because they showed different angles of the same subjet, while the studio sign I like just for effect.

To Flash or Not to Flash

"To Flash or Not to Flash - My Journey with Assignment 2" - or at least that's what I'd like to have called this entry.

This past week has been a rough week - computer problems that I thought would never end. It all started with loading Picasa. See I have a Mac - well I use a Mac as my primary computer. So I got the brilliant idea to partition the Mac so I could use Windows Vista and ultimately Picasa. That's when my problems started. But I digress... I'm now blogging this entry on a handy Windows XP machine, that allowed me to install Picasa with no problem, build my collage of photos taken from my little digital camera that could and save it all to my reliable thumbdrive. Ahhhh the hills and valleys of technology....

To the left, you see some of the photos I took. These 1o are out of 164 photos in all I believe.

STARBUCKS
I started out with a popular culture theme of Starbucks . My thinking was that these photos could be used in a story about the class-definition of made-to-order coffee in the United States in the 1990s and 00's - or something like that. I actually took these after playing around outside of a Starbucks in the morning light and then in my office building using various angles and light sources (flash vs. no flash). I may post those a little later.

The first row of 4 and the second row of three (coffee cups) were taken on my desk at work, using a book to steady my camera. I actually had to buy the coffee cups, but used the various sizes and colors for effect. I then played with them in various formations, with the black back drop and without the black backdrop. I noticed that without the flash, the effect was more natural - the flash created a lot of shadowing that I thought was distracting. Additionally, I tried to play with the depth of field. I thought it was interesting to keep the Starbucks logo in the frame, but focus on the "We are honored to serve this coffee". I also tried to do the same with the check boxes on the side because this is part of the identifying mark of Starbucks - coffee made to order - "I'll take a tall, moca-latte, skim milk, half Sweet & Low, blah, blah, blah."

FASHION
The next two shots - of the dress form - one was taken on an elevated level with flash and one straight on with no flash. Again I like the effect of the second one - keeping in mind that I tried to fill the frame while creating a curve that would adhere to the thirds rule. I'm not sure if I accomplished it but I tried. I thought these photos would be useful in a story about fashion in any story.

MUSIC
The record was a hard shot. The plastic caused a lot of glare with flash but without flash I wasn't able to steady the camera enough to complete the shot (the records were hanging on a wall). I thought this would be a good candidate for Photoshop or some other manipulation technique.

Finally - this was a great exercise. I really enjoyed playing with the different techniques and seeing the results. The wonderful thing about digital media (ok - this is going to be very obvious) is that mistakes are show stoppers - you just keep on shooting. The ability to see an image and tweak it on the spot provides not only flexibility but also a little motivation to be creative in the shot.

Assignment 1

This is my first attempt at using Picasa to create a collage for my blog.